After conducting some initial research, it’s time to start refining the student’s initial research question into a thesis statement. It's also important to stress that your thesis should be the product of the initial research you've conducted. The thesis is not the research question that drove the student's initial searches. Instead, the research should inform their argument paper's position. Below are some links and handouts about thesis development you can share with your students.
If your students need more guidance in creating a strong thesis, you can utilize a prewriting activity to get your students generating ideas for their topic. Prewriting can help student transform their research into workable ideas for an argument paper by allowing them to explore what they've gleaned from their research. Below are some helpful links about prewriting. A couple of these activities have also been developed into an in-class critical thinking activity (which includes a follow-up assignment) or just an assignment.
An outline is a good way to organize to help your students organize thoughts before writing the argument paper. An outline is a plan of attack, and having one can make the process of writing seem less daunting. Below are some helpful resources to share with your students about how to outline and what a completed outline might end up looking like.
Listing is a prewriting method where you first list terms from your research, then group them, and label those groups. Students write about the groups and labels, which becomes a draft of a possible thesis statement. This should be assigned after students have conducted substantial research and are ready to begin the writing process.
It's recommended that use this assignment or the freewriting critical thinking activity, but not both.
Assigning an outline is a great way to ensure your students are prepared and organized for the actual process of writing the argument paper.